If you remember back to our teasers, we previewed a new product code-named ESTO. We’ve since named the product TextKit, and we’re pleased to announce that we are previewing it in a public beta.

TextKit is a REALbasic plugin that provides a rendering engine for styled text as well as a corresponding EditField-like control that works on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. Unlike most other engines, this engine is written specifically for REALbasic and is extremely extendable.

TextKit provides two classes to help with displaying and editing text: TKTextRenderer and TKTextField. Unlike REALbasic’s built-in classes, TKTextRenderer can be used to manipulate and draw text offscreen. TKTextField provides an easy way to edit and display text and objects on a window.

During this public beta, we are extending our customers a special offer: If you buy TextKit today, we’ll extend your license by twelve months from the day that we release TextKit 1.0. It’s our way of showing our gratitude for helping us improve the product.

More information about TextKit can be found at http://alacatialabs.com/products/textkit/. We look forward to hearing everyone’s feedback.